


Power of three

by LeftShark



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - Fandom
Genre: Clint refuses to call Steve Daddy, Deadpool - Freeform, they're all blond, thor is basically a grandpa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-23 13:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2549789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeftShark/pseuds/LeftShark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce was the first to notice.<br/>That all had something in common with each other, they were all blond and had blue eyes.</p><p>It was obvious the three of them shared a bloodline.</p><p>—or—<br/>The one where Steve is Clint's Dad,<br/>And Thor is Steve's dad,<br/>And they're all slightly confused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have this headcannon...
> 
> All mistakes are mine but I'm gonna blame autocorrect if things don't make sense or words look funny because it changed them.

Bruce was the first to notice.

No one but Bruce.

The way that Thor stood when he was trying to comprehend something. Arms crossed and feet shoulder width apart, concentrated features plastered on his face. Steve stood the exact way, feet apart, not too far yet not too close. Concentration on a finely chiseled face.

Or the look that Clint got when something frustrated him; and he didn't want to express his feelings with words.  
He'd seen that look on Steve's face before when something didn't go as planned.

And the eyes.  
They all had the same aqua eyes. And they all had blond hair.

It was hard not to see the resemblance.

Apparently Bruce was wrong.

°

"You're my...my...dad!? No, no that's impossible!" Clint shrieked.

"Clint, calm down!" Steve said, rubbing his temples. When Clint wanted to, he could be loud enough to give everyone a headache.

"But-but-"

"We haven taken three different tests; each time the results were fairly identical. Friend, there is no doubt we are kin." Thor said, uncrossing his arms from where he had them crossed while thinking this over.

"So we’re part alien?" Steve asked jokingly, lifting his head.

"If that is what you wish to call the Asgardians. But know, you are from Asgard yourself, Steven." Thor was done thinking this over for now. Though the thought there might be one person who could help him figure this out.

Grabbing his hammer, he made his way off to an empty clearing, then beamed himself off to Asgard.

 

"But you can't be my dad you're old and you're like the 100 year old virgin that's impossible." Clint said, perched on the arm of the sofa, as far away from Steve as possible. "I'm only 22, and remember parts from my childhood! I remember my dad...I remember him! That he...he...my dad was never home..." Clint furrowed his brow. "Mom always said he would come home soon but he never did...she cried over him a lot...just--he never..."

Steve stayed silent, giving Clint some time to calm down before he spoke again.

"I remember one time my brother and I played baseball in the street with a rotting wood plank and a rock...and...that's the last thing I remember as a kid...I don't. There's a long period of nothingness...then sudden I remember being an adult."

Steve sits back and takes it in. The DNA results were nearly identical, save for a tiny bit of data that made Clint his own person.

"You aren't a clone, we know that for sure." The bigger blonde said.

Clint shook his head. This made no sense and this was gonna make things awkward.

°

"Remember your old friend, the one who disappeared?" 

Sad emotions plastered theirselves to Thor's face as he frowned. "She...passed."

"You oaf, she didn't pass away! She left. She left you!" Loki spat, rolling his eyes. Sometimes Thor could be stupid. Or maybe Loki just hated him.

"She..-"

"Birthed a baby." Loki said. "A tiny, pathetic thing. Much smaller than a normal baby. Sickly. Hardly worth of becoming an Asgardian warrior."

"My son..."

Loki nodded as if this were normal talks with Thor. "She left, to a completely different realm; where she later died, unable to handle their strange diseases. And left the child behind to struggle. All because you became even more of a fool than you already are. You got just the least bit drunk and couldn't keep it away."

Thor turned away from the man he’d called his brother. He did not need the insults.

"Just explain to me how it worked, Loki."

°

Thor comes back a week later.

Clint and Steve haven't exactly been "bonding."

But they're getting there...  
Kind of.

"I have answers." 

They crowd around the thunder god.

"The serum that was injected into you, it unlocked your hidden warrior genes. The ones that would've kept you on Asgard had you been born with them present to give you strength and health.  
And as for the young Hawk,  
he is yours, Steven. Though he's not as, how would I put it; young as he seems.  
At a certain point in time, he was forced to forget many years of his life, and you've passed on your genes to him.  
He appears to not age; and as far as he knows, he's just past two decades of life."

"Wha--you're saying I'm old!?" Clint snapped.

Steve rolled his eyes. "You're 22, now shut up and sit down before you hurt yourself."

 

Clint slowly sank into his chair, processing the information while Steve and Thor talked about it more.

"This is...awkward. But don't think I'll ever call you 'Dad' because that's just fucking weird." The smallest of the three looked up at Steve. Then to Thor. "And I'm not calling you 'grandpa' either."

"I'd rather you not."

°•°•°

To say that Steve became an over protective mother hen was one hell of an understatement.

Any little "stunts" that Clint pulled on missions were usually corrected with a "Barton, don't mess around, the team needs you." But now they earned Clint a long chewing out from Steve about how it was "dangerous and you could've gotten hurt, dammit, don't ever do that again blah blah blah."

The "blah"s were just the parts that Clint couldn't hear. Not after he remembered a neat little trick.

Steve was lecturing him about the dangers of suddenly jumping off a building a free-falling when Clint reached up and pretended to scratch his ear. He quickly double tapped the small purple implant in his ear, shutting off his hearing aids.

And he wasn't looking at Steve, so he couldn't read his lips and see him bitching.

 

Steve tapped his shoulder. Clint looked up.

He could read Steve's lips, see him asking 'are you alright?'

He reached up and quickly turned his hearing aids back on.

"He didn't hear a single word you said for the last five minuets," Natasha said, coming up behind Steve. "He turned his hearing aids off, and avoided looking at you in hopes of you going away."

"Nat!" Clint said, glaring at her. She'd given away his secrets!

"Hearing aids?" Steve asked, looking between Natasha and Clint. "What...do you mean?"

"He's 90% deaf, you didn't know?" She tilted her head slightly to the side.

"I-no! I–didn't know...i...do the others know?"

"Bruce knows," Clint says. "He checks my ears to make sure the aids aren't doing any damage.

"Does Tony know?"

They nodded. "He made me these hearing aids. Purple. My favorite color."

"All this time I just thought you were somewhat shy!" Steve exclaimed. "You never had problems understanding Thor!"

"Thor's naturally loud, I can hear him better than the rest of you when I don't have them on. I just...it's hard sometimes. I lose them or they need to be repaired after missions and I have to act like nothing's happened. I still have to go about life, but without the kind of sounds. No music, or birds singing. Not that there's many birds in this area, but still!"

Steve frowned. "You speak English perfectly. No kind of speech impediment , so you obviously weren't deaf your whole life."

Clint nodded. "When I was younger, I got sick a lot. I got fevers, too. And one night I got a really high fever, and I felt like hell, and before I knew it, the whole world sounded 50 times quieter that normal. And it got worse over time."

 

Now that Steve started to think about it, he realized that Clint was always feeling a little under the weather. He would often come and gather up several cold medicines and tissues and such; most likely because he had a cold.

'It’s my fault,' Steve thought, 'if it wasn't for me and my weakness, he wouldn't be like that.

 

Clint shrugged and left the room, going to sit on the sofa. He watched tv for a whole, laughing and commenting.

Steve smiled as he listened. It was funny to watch Clint bitch about the smallest things, and Clint laughing have him a better feeling than of someone were to go back in time and hand his smaller-self $1000.

Steve noticed that the laughing and comments stopped, and quickly peeked into the living room.

The small blonde had fallen asleep.

"Time to put the hawk in his nest," Steve quietly joked to himself as he strode over to the sleeping man. He quickly hefted Clint into his arms, bridal style, and made sure Clint's head was leaning on his chest before taking the archer to his room.

He plopped him down on the round bed that Clint referred to as "[his] nest."

Immediately, Clint curled up into a ball. Steve wrapped the sheets around him as best he could, basically tucking him in before putting a pillow under his head, and the remaining pillows on each side of him.

'That's good,' he thought. 'Yeah, he looks comfortable.'

The bigger blonde backtracked, then left the room, going back to the kitchen. He wasn't really tired, and he still had a lot he warned to know.

"Jarvis, can you tell me, where's Thor?"

"Sir Thor is not on the building at the moment, Captain Rogers. Would you like me to track him down?"

"No, thanks. Thank you, Jarvis."

"Anytime, Captain."

He'd talk to Thor later, when he came back. For now he'd go to his art studio and paint.

____________________

A few hours later, Steve was still up and wide awake.

Deciding he was in need of a late night coffee, and some food, he went back up to the penthouse.

He took the stairs, feeling that he could use the movement in his legs after sitting for so long.

As he neared the top floor, he could hear someone playing the piano and…singing? No one ever sang, unless it was Tony singing along to music…

"-We'll be together in flight~"

He heard the person, accompanied by a quick but gently piano part, and there was more singing.

It was Clint.

"Believe me darl~ing, the stars were made for fall~ing. Like melted obelisks, as tall as another realm~" Steve could see the smallest Avengers sitting at the piano in the corner of the living room, playing his heart out and singing.

How did no one else hear this? It was beautiful, amazing! It was like heaven to his ears!  
"It feels like flying, but maybe we're dying."

 

He'd have to ask Jarvis to record it next time, it would make fire great background music when he paints or draws. Clint's still going.

"She knows you heard her, staging music mur~der,  
In line before the show began, to be where I am~"

Steve quietly tiptoed in to the kitchen, and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Natasha seated on the counter. He didn't expect that.

"You don't have to be all stealthy, you know. He can't hear you." She said, sipping tea. "He doesn't have his hearing aids in."

"I thought he went to sleep hours ago."

"We all did, but he woke up. Nightmares. I could hear him from my room."

"How does he play If he can't hear?"

"He can hear himself. He's not one-hundred percent deaf, you know. And the piano is right in from of him, and loud. He just can't hear you. He doesn't know you're here, and honestly, you should probably get whatever you need and leave before he turns around and flips his shit."

Steve frowned as he remembered it was probably his fault Clint was deaf in the first place.

"I just need coffee," he said, using the hot water left over from Nat's tea. "After I get a cup or two, I'll leave you to your tea party."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Just hurry. If he knows anyone else is here, he'll get uncomfortable and hide. He doesn't like others to know he plays, or sings. No matter...how good it sounds."

Steve was about to make a comment about her possibly being in love with Clint when Thor walked in.

Well, if two was company, three was a crowd.

"Friend Steven, I have found more information. Come with me, and bring the Hawk."

Then, the Blonde god was gone.

_____________________________

Just like usual, Clint came down with a cold.

Steve majorly overprotective mother hen burst out of him the moment he saw Clint gathering a dozen different cold medicines and boxes of tissues. He quickly herded the little blonde back to bed and have him a healthy dosage of medicine every few hours.

He even brought him a batch of fresh cookies that he made, and didn't let anyone else have (despite Tony's bitching) and gave him a glass of milk to go with it.

He got treated like royalty.

If this is how he was gonna be treated Every time he got sick, then he didn't mind getting sick!


	2. Loki, Lucky, and the old lady...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint Barton meets his real mommy and y'all get most of the explanation from Loki aka the little shit so now y'all can stop complaining about how my headcannons work.  
> Bucky isn't in the story yet, I'm sorry. He will be soon, but Steve has to rescue him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Bucky yet, sorry

"Perhaps if you would set me free-"

"I am not letting you go, Loki. You are not trusted, this building is heavily guarded."

"You mean your petty team of mortals?" The dark haired god asked with a sly smirk.

Thor glared at him. "Just explain it to us."

 

"You became a father without even knowing it, what else can I say?" Loki laughed with a shrug.

"Loki!" Thor said, slamming his hand on the table. That shut his brother up. "This no time for games."

Loki cleared the look of "dear lord god" from his face before speaking.

"I've already told you, blonde oaf, your friend was sent to a different realm because she was afraid."

"Afraid?" Thor whispered.

"Oh, I'd be dearly terrified if I found out I was carrying your evil spawn, too. Eheheh-"

Steve cleared his throat.

"Of course, I am merely joking."

"Just give us the real story, Loki." Steve said.

Loki sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"She came to me, seeking help. She said that Thor was young, and should be more focused on ruling Asgard soon than a child."

"Why would she go to you for help? You'd use your magic just send her to some unknown place to never be seen again."

They all turned to look at Clint.

"What?" The smallest blonde said, shrugging.

 

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. I'd at least expect him to be smart like the Captain."

"Um...thanks." Steve said awkwardly to Loki. "Will you finish the story?"

"I helped her-"

"Why?" Clint interrupted.

"Because, she was my friend, too." Loki said through gritted teeth. "And it would've made it much easier to not deal with the guilt of killing Thor and making him leave behind his child and lover. I am not that cruel. It would be easier if he did not know. I helped her study the life of the midgardians. Their culture, their music, even their names. Then we sent her off."

"We?"

"The gatekeeper and I," Loki said. " I would occasionally go to him, ask how she was doing. Ask how you were doing," he said, looking at Steve. "And then you died."

"But I didn't really die..."

"How does that explain me?" Clint said.

"Well, when Bruce took our DNA samples, ours were almost exactly the same..." Steve said. "I think maybe...maybe someone took my DNA..?"

"Are you saying I'm a clone of you?" Clint said, eyes wide.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!"

"You think I'm your clone, don't you?"

"No!"

"Lying is not for you, Steven," Loki said, smirking. "You are quite terrible at it."

Clint shot a glare at Steve. "You know what happened, stop lying."

"I'm sorry," Steve said, a hint of a blush on his face. "Back in the war, Peggy Carter—and – we didn't know what we were doing we were young and dumb and– I thought I really loved her but..." His face was a deep shade of red. "She never told me, if she knew, I went down too quickly."

"Peggy Carter is my real mom?!" Clint blinked his eyes a few times. "Can I– do you have a picture of her?!"

Steve pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, Clint snatched it from him and studied the photo.

"That's not the lady I grew up with, I don't remember her..."

"She gave you to a woman who lived on the other side of your city," Loki said.

"How did you know?"

"I watched you." Loki said. "This whole time."

"Then you know what happened that made me forget everything I knew!" Clint said. "Tell me!"

Loki just smirked and shook his head. "I seem to have forgotten, what a shame."

"Is that why you chose to use him as your personal slave?" Steve said.

Loki smirked, Thor glared at him, and Clint flinched.

"I think we have all the information we wanted," Clint said, standing. "Or, all we really needed." He left the room.

 

The remaining three just cast glances at each other

"I'm gonna go see where he went," Steve said, getting up and leaving the gods to do whatever.

 

"Is he on his floor?" Steve asked, walking towards the elevator.

"Agent Barton is on his floor." JARVIS confirmed.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Steve said, stepping into the elevator.

When he got off on Clint's personal floor, he was in awe of the sight.

Colored lights strung out across the ceiling, along with some that resembles icicles. There were decorations and a few mini Christmas trees. Garland was hung from the ceiling, and wreaths pinned up on the wall.

 

The whole floor was decorated. And the main room of the floor had a bigger tree, it was black, and decorated with purple lights and ornaments. He even had a big purple stocking hanging on the wall.

Steve found it strange. The avengers never really used their personal floors anymore. Clint sometimes used his when he wanted to be left alone or just wanted to rest for as long as possible without being bothered.

They all had rooms in the penthouse.

Steve found Clint in the small kitchen of the floor. Sitting on the counter and eating peanut butte from the jar with his fingers.

Steve sat next to him.

"She's still alive, though, right?" The smaller blonde asked.

"Huh?" Steve furrowed his brow. "You mean Peggy?"

Clint nodded.

"Well, yeah...she's still alive, I mean-"

"Take me to see her."

"You mean, like,-"

"I mean take me to see her. I wanna see her." Clint said.

Steve shrugged. It had been a while since he'd seen Peggy, and she was probably feeling a little lonely and could use a visit. She was his best gal after all.

 

 

Clint followed Steve closely through the nursing home. Everyone was used to Steve as a common visitor, but they kind of stared at Clint the way children would stare at a new student in the classroom.  
There weren't many people there, but it was one high-class nursing home, thanks to Tony and Steve. They made sure Peggy would be 100% safe.

Steve smiled and waved to people, Clint shuffled behind him, peanut butter jar still clutched in his hand.

They made it to a room in the back of the building, and Steve opened the door. The room looked like it belonged in an old house, not this nursing home, but then again, Tony built it. It was all design.

Peggy was there, in the bed, as usual. She wasn't bedridden, but she was the oldest one there, so she really didn't have to do much but lay in bed.

She smiled at Steve. She looked truly happy, Clint observed.

"Hey Peggy," Steve said, taking a seat beside her bed.

"Steve,"her smile grew. Then she noticed Clint. She stared at him for a few moments, then turned to Steve. "You found him." She whispered hoarsely. "You found him, Steve."

Steve smiled, "More like he found me. Him, Tony, the others. They found me."

Clint stepped forward and set the jar down on a table. He awkwardly shuffled his feet before asking. "Are you really my mom? Because that's what Steve implied but he could have been lying, which seems outrageous, right? Would Captain America ever lie to someone? Well, there was that one time he said he had something important to do but really he just snuck out to go look for stray dogs to walk. I know because I saw him. I was doing the same thing."

Peggy smiled fondly at Clint before turning back to Steve. "He has your eyes, your nose…even the hair."

Clint awkwardly sat on the edge of the bed. "But…why did you give me away?" He glanced over at Peggy.  
Peggy sighed.

"It was hard to bring up a child in those times. Your father was gone, I couldn't afford to do it by myself. It was hard, you have to understand. I never wanted to give you away, I wanted to keep you forever. But the couple down the street wanted another child, but couldn't have one. I let them have you, where I knew you would grow up with a better life, and have an older brother to take care of you…" Peggy trailed off when Clint ripped his hearing aids out and left the room.

Steve ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "He's not mad at you," Steve said. "It's just...he's always told us that he grew up in a bad home. His dad was an abusive drunk, he always say his mom got hurt, his older brother stopped caring about him and eventually started bullying him…"

Peggy gasped, "The family...they moved across the city. I should've stopped them, I should've know…"

Steve reached over and wiped a tear from Peggy's face. "Don't cry, Peggy." He whispered. "It's not your fault."

He took her hand and held it until she calmed down.

They stayed in silence for a few minuets until Steve finally said, "he's 80% deaf. He used hearing aids that Tony made for him."

Peggy sighed "It won't make me love him any less."

"Peggy…how come you never told me I had a son?"

"I didn't want you to stress yourself out over this. I know you'd spend countless hours looking for him when I didn't even know where he was."

Steve was about to reply when Clint burst in. "Steve I need your belt!" He said as he grabbed the jar of peanut butter.

"Um?"

"Hurry it's important! I need it, like, now!"

Steve awkwardly took his belt off and tossed it to Clint who took it and sprinted back out the door.

Steve and Peggy stared at each other, then chuckled.

A few minuets later, Clint came back with a dog, the belt being used as a makeshift leash.

"Look what I found-"

"No." Steve said. "Tony will flip his shit."

"To late. He's already mine."

"Put him back where you found him."

"I already named him. His name's Lucky. And he's mine." Clint scratched the dog's head.

"Well...he's already been named." Steve said to Peggy. She smiled.

Clint was feeding Lucky peanut butter.

"It's getting late," Steve said. "Maybe we should go...we'll come back soon, I promise."

Peggy nodded and let them go.

Clint sat in the backseat of the car with Lucky, hugging the dog's neck, obviously more than happy.

"You get to feed him, walk him, take care of him when he's sick, and clean up after him." Steve said, looking at the pair in the rear view mirror.

Clint kicked the back of Steve's seat. "You're just jealous because I have a dog and you don't."

"I'm just saying...a dog is a big responsibility."

"So is saving the world, but I've done that a few time, so..."

That shut Steve up.

 

"I'm keeping him. And his name is Lucky." Clint stroked the dog.

"At least bathe him, incase he has fleas."

"Aye aye, captain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I hate working here. They are so weird…


	3. 3: How Lucky.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint gets Lucky settled.  
> Thor and Tony leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just needed to update something quickly. It's kinda just a filler.  
> It's also kinda short.  
> I'm sorry.

Clint hoisted Lucky into his arms and walked inside the elevators of the parking garage which took him up to the workshop floor of the of the tower. He strode through, glad that Tony wasn't in there for once, then quickly made his way into the elevator on the opposite side of the room.

From there he went to the lobby and then finally up one more elevator which took him to the penthouse. He had his face full of dog hair and didn't notice someone else stepped into the elevator with him.

He lowered Lucky so that the big dog's fur wasn't blocking his view. It was Thor.

"Where did you get it from?" The largest blonde asked, glancing over at Clint.

"It's a he. And his name is Lucky. He found me, and I couldn't just let him wander the streets and be hungry. He's starving, and cold."

"Then he is quite lucky that he found you. His name suits him well." Thor reached over to pet the dog's head.

Lucky wagged his bushy tail and stretched his neck to reach out and lick Thor's wrist. 

The elevator came to a stop on the top floor and Clint stepped out, setting Lucky down and putting a hand on the dogs neck, to keep him beside him. "Lucky, this is your new home." Clint said.

"You're gonna live here and I'm gonna make sure you're fed and have a warm bed to sleep in every night."

Lucky wagged his tail and turned his head to lick Clint's arm happily. Clint smiled. "I don't have food for you right now...but there's pizza in the fridge."

Lucky's tail thumped against Clint's leg and clint patted his head as they walked to the kitchen. The blonde pulled open the fridge and grabbed the few slices of pizza leftover. "Pizza always taste better when it's cold," he held a slice out to Lucky who licks at it a few times before wolfing it down.

Clint plopped on the floor beside him and ate his own slice. Lucky sat beside him.

They both eyed the final piece until Clint split it in half between the two of them. Lucky nearly swallowed his whole, while Clint took his time.

The blonde man had the rest of his slice clutched between his teeth, scrolling through his phone. When suddenly, Lucky snatched the piece from Clint and wolfed it down.

"Hey, buddy! That was not cool!" Clint said, lightly flicking the dog's ear. Lucky licked his face.

Clint was about to say something else when someone snatched him up from the floor. "What the hell is this!"

Leave it to Tony to ruin the fun.

"You brought a dog in here! You know I don't like animals! Especially not dirty mutts!" The brunette's hands clutched Clint's shirt in an angry manner.

He's in trouble! He's being hurt!

Lucky growled at Tony, the hairs on his back rising and bristling. His tail lashed around angrily.

"Let me go you're making him angry!" Clint said, prying Tony's hand's off him. He shoved Tony away and knelt to pet Lucky. "It's okay, buddy. I'm safe now."

Lucky happily wagged his tail and tucked his furry head under Clint's chin.

"I'm keeping him." Clint said. Tony scoffed and walked away, mumbling something about the blondes being stubborn.

 

Clint led lucky to his room to get him settled. They'd most likely move to Clint's floor later on. It would keep Tony from bitching about him having a dog.

 

The first thing Clint did was lead Lucky to the restroom to wash him down. Might as well get himself clean, too.

Most of the showers in Showers in stark tower didn't have doors.  
Clint's was an open shower on the far side of the restroom that had big windows on the back wall, they were one way windows, he could see out of them, but no once could see in. (He was glad for that, as there were many planes ((and that Spiderman kid)) who were out there.)

He made his way to the end of the huge restroom, stripping off his clothes and turning on the rain shower head. The large square on the ceiling began to pour water like it was rain. That one was his favorite shower head. And when he needed to soap up, he could just step out of the streams of water and lather himself, then step back in.

He stepped under the water and called for Lucky, who came running it at full speed. Clint didn't give a damn that he was showering with the dog. He'd had worse. He once showered in the gym locker room with Tony. Who liked to show off everything.

He got himself and Lucky clean then quickly grabbed some towels and scrambled back to the shower area, glad for the heating/drying systems built in to dry and keep him warm. He still liked using the towels, though. They were fluffy and soft. Dryers blew warm stir against them and Lucky happily paced around, letting his fur dry and soak up the warmth. 

Clint quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants.   
Once the both of them were dry enough, they went back into the bedroom to nap.

Clint laid on the bed and curled up around his favorite pillow. He did not expect Lucky to jump up there with him and curl up beside him. But he didn't mind. He rolled over to wrap his arms around Lucky.

 

Clint had been dozing, and he didn't have his hearing aids, so he nearly jumped five feet in the air when Steve came and laid down beside him.

Steve frowned and tried to comfort Clint when the small blonde laid there facing him, hand clutched over his chest and breath heavy. "I'm sorry Clint," he said. "I was just wanting to know if you wanted to say bye to Thor...he has to go back to Asgard. You know, for his royalty business."

Clint nodded and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He climbed off the bed with Steve and Lucky immediately followed.

Thor was in the livingroom

"Bye," Clint said, giving a small wave. Thor pulled him in for a bear hug.

"I shall return soon, my friends. I just have business to take care of. Until then, try not to miss me too much." And then he was gone in a flash of light that left Clint's hair ruffled.

Clint blinked a few times. "I'm still tired and in need of a nap." He said.

Steve nodded. "Um, yeah...that's cool, I guess."

"Bye," Clint said, returning to his room.  
.

A few days later, they were saying bye to Tony. He said he and Pepper were going to spend the holidays together in Cali. Clint just shrugged, he wasn't used to being around many people as it was, at lest he didn't have to spend the holidays around many people.

Bruce had gone to Nevada to work in some labs the day before. Clint honestly didn't mind spending Christmas with Steve and Natasha. They were close friends, and they didn't annoy him as much as everyone else did.

 

He was probably(definitely) about to annoy them.

He crawled through the vents, being extra quiet. His breathing was slow, very slow.

He grinned to himself quietly as he made it to Steve's room, peering down to see the bigger blonde quietly wrapping presents. He smirked as the thought popped into his head that he could possible get a glimpse at the gift Steve bought him.

"Son, get out of the vents," Steve said, startling him. Steve hadn't even looked up! How did he know!?

"Don't call me that. You say it like you're my dad or something..." He didn't miss the way Steve slightly flinched when he said that. "I mean, you are my dad, but you don't call me 'son' the same way you call everyone else 'son.' You say it differently, it doesn't sound the same when you say it to me, you know? It's like–"

"What are you talking about? I don't even know, just come down from there."

"No."

"Shut the fuck up and get out of the vents, Barton," Natasha's voice sounds from the other side of the room. He didn't see here there.

"Um, okay." He kicked out the cover and dropped down.

"Which one is mine?" Clint asked.

Steve just smiled and shook his head. "You'll find out on Christmas."

"Damn." With that, the shortest blonde left the room, calling out for his dog who was probably in the living room.

"Is he always that weird?" Steve asked. 

 

"Does he know you're going back to DC?" Natasha asked.

Steve shook his head. "I think he'll be safer here. Tony's got security all over the tower, and Jarvis is here. Plus, he's got Lucky here to keep him grounded. And Bruce comes by to work in the labs. Plus, Tony's opened up the labs to Spider-Man, so he might be here sometimes. I can't take him back to DC with me, either. I don't have room for him and his new dog in my apartment, and the neighbors already get suspicious of me. I don't know how I'll explain him either. I can't just lie to people."

Natasha shrugged. "Okay."

 

"Holy shit! Steve! NAT!" Clint's shout came from the livingroom. The pair glanced at each other, then sprinted into the livingroom. Clint was pointing at the TV.

The news was broadcasting video clips of Tony Stark's Malibu mansion sinking into the ocean below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly, I hate working here...they're so weird.


	4. 4: ...Christmas morning, and Tony's not dead!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They open their gifts and eat pancakes

Days went by and no one had said anything about Tony. They'd all assumed the worst.

Everyone silently mourned him.

Steve was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Tony wasn't supposed to die! He was standing in front of him and cracking jokes just days before! It want supposed to be like this! 

His heart sunk.

What would happen to Stark Industries? What about the Avengers? Avengers without Iron Man? That was absolutely crazy! 

He'd wanted to help. They all did, but they weren't allowed. Apparently the world could afford to lose anymore heroes to this 'Mandarin.'

No one else could go down like Tony. No one else could–

"Steve!"

Clint jumped on to the bed beside him, and Lucky copied him, jumping onto the large bed. Clint was oddly cheerful.

"Look," he nearly shoved the Starkpad into Steve's face. There's was video and news reels reporting that Iron Man and Iron Patriot were out to rescue the president. 

Tony stark was definitely alive.

Steve grinned and snatched the Starkpad from Clint, going over multiple articles and videos to confirm that it was true.

"We still aren't allowed to help him, though." Clint said, settling down beside Steve. "They don't wanna risk losing any of us."

Steve nodded and threw an arm around his shoulders.

"He isn't dead!"

They celebrate, though miles away from Tony. No one needs to be avenged tonight. 

 

Clint wakes up on Christmas morning due to Lucky licking his face happily. "Get off," he grumbles, pushing licky Lucky away.

 

"He wants you up so you can open your presents." Steve said from the doorway.

"I don't want to open any presents!" Clint said, pulling the sheets over his head. " 'm tired, go away!"

"Negative. Get up."

"Go awayyyy," Clint whined. It wasn't even 8 AM yet, they could wait til later! There was no need to be up at this ungodly hour. He just wanted to sleep til 3 PM.

Steve shrugged. "I'm sure Natasha would enjoy your presents more than you would. I'll give them to her, instead-"

"I'm awake!" Clint said, sitting up.

"C'mon. You don't even have to get out of your pajamas."

Clint groaned, "I have to get out of bed, too!?"

Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed Clint, throwing the smaller man on to his shoulder. "Wha-hey!" Clint grabbed on to Steve's shirt, trying to steady himself. It felt like Steve was gonna drop him on his head.

Steve finally set clint down on the sofa and grabbed some gifts from under the tree. "Okay " he said, grinning. "Here," he handed two boxes wrapped in shiny purple paper to Clint, and a box wrapped in red to Natasha, who was sitting on the opposite sofa. Clint smiled and opened the bigger of the two boxes. It had three purple arrows neatly tied together with a lime green ribbon.

"I had help with those ones..." Steve admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"I made them by hand, I know, it seems strange, but I've made and shot my share of bow and arrows in the past. And, they're magic arrows..."

"Magic arrows?"

"I got help from Thor...and Loki...after you shoot all three of them, they'll appear back in your quiver, no matter what. You'll never run out of arrows."

Clint smiled. That was fucking awesome! (Despite being made by his great uncle who manipulated/mind controlled him into harming people.

He moved on to the next gift, opening the small box. Inside of it was a gold key. He looked up at Steve, puzzled. "What?"

"You'll need it one day," Steve said.

"Oh..."

Natasha had already opened her gift, viewed it, then neatly put it back into its box.

"What did Steve get you?" Clint said. Natasha just smiled and held on to the box. "Tell meeeee!"

"He got me a box full of none of your business," Natasha said, slowly batting her lashes at Clint.

Clint huffed. "I'm gonna go get your guys' presents," he stood up and strode over to his room to retrieve the two boxes. He tossed Nat her small box, and handed Steve his. Natasha unwrapped the little box and opened up the velvet case. Inside was a necklace with an arrow charm. She smiled at Clint and thanked him. The noise Steve made from the other side of the room caused them both to turn and look.

Steve reached into the box and pulled out the red, blue, and tan stuffed bear that was housed inside. "Where did you find this!?" Steve all but squealed. "It's a Bucky Bear!" He hugged the bear to himself.

Clint smiled. "It took me forever to get a hold of."

Steve stood and wrapped Clint in a tight hug, then pressed a kiss to the smaller blonde's temple. "Thank you, Clint!" 

Natasha got Steve a watch, the straps made of pure leather. It also had white gold around the circumference of the clock. He also got a new pair of shoes, which he thanked her for.

Clint got a knife, with a leather sheath,  
and purple grips for his bow. He often complained about how the thin black ones he had on were uncomfortable.

"I also have some gifts for Peggy, we can take them to her later," Steve said.

"Okay," Clint said, fiddling with the key that he'd gotten. He wanted to ask what it was for, but he knew that when the time came for him to use it, it would be obvious to him what he needed it for, or Steve would guide him in the right direction.

"I don't really feel like making breakfast," Steve said. "There's gotta be some place that's open, right?"

"There's an IHop that closes at 11," Clint said. "We can go there. Pancakes sound good."

The other two agreed with curt nods. Clint smiled. "I want chocolate chips in mine."

 

The trio made their way to their destination, Clint happily babbling about his chocolate chip pancakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas... (Hopefully another short chapter to appear later today)  
> I still honestly hate working here, they're still so weird.


	5. 5: She called me a dog!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *updates 5000 years later*

Clint happily almost-skipped through the building and towards Peggy's room, the gifts Steve had bought her clutched in his arm. 

"Slow down before you break some thing!" Steve said loudly. Clint skidded to a hault in front of Peggy's door.

He knocked twice to let his presence be known, then strode in like he owned the place.

"Merry Christmas!" He placed the presents on the bed, Peggy was in front of the mirror, brushing out her silver hair. She smiled at him brightly. "Hello!" He gently hugged her. "We brought you presents!"

Steve and Natasha appeared in the doorway. Clint jumped up and grabbed Natasha's wrist, dragging her into the room. "This is my friend Natasha. She's my friend." Steve didn't miss the shift in tone in Clint's voice. His voice did the same thing when he was nervous, too. Clint was nervous, probably hoping Peggy didn't ask about he and Natasha met or became friends.

"They're practically best friends," Steve said, continuing the conversation. He didn't miss the grateful look from Clint. Clint was socially awkward most of the time, he got panic attacks and was sometimes startled if he couldn't feel or hear you sneak up on him. (That usually resulted in someone getting a broken nose...) Sometimes he threw himself into conversations that he couldn't get out of, and often left him standing there thinking of what to do. "Sometimes they're inseparable. But Clint likes to work up high. Really high. He crawls through the vents in the towers. She knows better than to do that, though. Clint got stuck once."

"I didn't realize that tunnel wasn't as wide as the rest!" Clint said.

"Tony had to climb in and pull him out." Steve said with a chuckle.

"I think he might've dislocated my arm instead. He just pulled on it as hard as he could and got me even more stuck." Clint shrugged. "I got out eventually."

Peggy laughed lightly.

"Open your presents!" Clint said, gesturing to them. "Steve bought them, so I don't know what's in them, but I think it has to be good."

"You sound like you've had a good day, darling," she said, smiling and picking up her presents off the bed.

Clint nodded.

"He got me a Bucky Bear," Steve chuckled, holding the bear up for Peggy to see. Peggy gave him a solemn smile, knowing he missed Bucky. "It was...very thoughtful."

Peggy's gentle hands opened her presents. In the first box, she pulled out a pearl necklace. It looked old, and the pearls were stained with dirt and dust. There was also two gold pins, and an old compass.

Peggy looked up at Steve. "Where did you find these? I haven't seen these since the forties!"

Steve just smiled and shrugged. "Took me a while to gather them all."

Peggy opened her other gifts, thanking Steve and hugging him tightly.

"I was gonna bring Lucky with me!" Clint said loudly, startling everyone.

"Shhh, inside voice, Clint." Steve said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry," Cling whispered, turning his hearing aids up. "I turned them down and forgot."

 

"What I was saying was, I was gonna bring Lucky with me to say hello, but Steve said no."

Steve shrugged. "I think a dog would be much trouble."

 

"But dogs are cool!" Clint protested. "Right, Nat?! Dogs are so cool!"

 

"He slobbered all over my jacket," Natasha said, brow raised.

"Well...that just means he loves you!"

Nat raised an eyebrow. "Sure, Clint."

 

"They're just a bunch of dog haters," Clint said to Peggy, rolling his eyes.

 

"You are a dog." Nat said with a smirk.

 

"Steve! She called me a dog!"

 

A rough sigh escaped the Super Soldier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I triple checked. Hopefully autocorrect doesnt screw me over.  
> This is shit.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I hate working here, they're so weird...


End file.
